Basketball icon and Kentucky great C.M. Newton dies at 88

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C.M. Newton (center) integrated the basketball programs at Transylvania University and the University of Alabama and hired Kentucky's first African-American coach in Tubby Smith.(Photo: BOWMAN STEWART, Copyright 2000 The Courier-Journal;YES COURIER-JOURNAL)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Legendary former University of Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton died Monday at the age of 88.

A Kentucky spokesman confirmed the news.

A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Newton left a major impact across college sports as a player, coach and administrator. The Rockwood, Tenn., native integrated the basketball programs as coach at Transylvania University and the University of Alabama and while athletic director at Kentucky, Newton hired Tubby Smith, the first African-American basketball coach in program history.

“I was not a social reformer,” Newton said after being elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000. “I was a basketball coach. In some ways maybe I was a little naive about that. To me, it was just the right thing to do now. It was kind of a no-brainer, really.”

A three-sport star at Fort Lauderdale High School in Florida, Newton lettered on Kentucky’s 1951 national championship basketball team and pitched for the UK baseball team.

"He was a great athlete and a real good guy," said former UK basketball coach Joe B. Hall, a teammate of Newton’s at UK. "He got along with everybody real well. Everybody liked C.M."

Newton briefly pitched in the New York Yankees' minor league system while beginning his coaching career at Transylvania, where he led the basketball, baseball, tennis and soccer programs.

At Transylvania, Newton recruited the program’s first African-American men’s basketball player and led the basketball program to its first-ever postseason appearance in 1962-63.

He was hired as the basketball coach at Alabama in 1968. In Tuscaloosa, Newton won three straight Southeastern Conference titles from 1974-76, signed Wendell Hudson, the program’s first African-American player, and won the SEC Coach of the Year award in 1972 and 1976.

During a December 1973 game in Louisville, Newton started five black players in the same game for Alabama, marking the first all-black starting lineup in SEC history.

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C.M. Newton, center, at the first event on an 18-stop tour around Kentucky to meet alumni and supporters of University of Kentucky in 1989, the year he was named athletics director. Todd Buchanan/Courier Journal

Charles "C.M." Newton speaks as he is inducted into the 2000 Basketball Hall of Fame during enshrinement ceremonies at the Springfield, Massachusetts, Civic Center 13 October, 2000. Newton has spent 40 years in basketball as a player, coach and administrator. , John Mottern/AFP-Getty Images

UK Athletics Director, C.M. Newton, left listened as UK Football coach Bill Curry responded to Newton's announcement that Curry would return next season as coach of the Wildcats,
11-20-95 BOWMAN STEWART, Stewart Bowman/Courier Journal

University of Kentucky Athletics Director C.M. Newton talks with Tim Couch and his mother, Janice, after arriving prior to the Kentucky-Louisville basketball game Saturday, Dec. 23, 1995, in Lexington, Ky. Couch announced that he will play football for Kentucky during a news conference earlier on Saturday. , Breck Smither/AP

Hal Mumme and his wife, June, sat while he was being introduced as the new Kentucky coach to the board of trustees by athletics director C. M. Newton, left, and school President Charles Wethington. , Stewart Bowman/Courier Journal

C. M. Newton, UK athletics director, was surrounded by TV cameras as he spoke to the press after his radio call-in show at WVLK radio station in Lexington about Pitino.
5-5-97 , Stewart Bowman/Courier Journal

UK athletics director, C.M. Newton, left responded to a caller's question as he talked about the prospects of Rick Pitino's possible departure as head coach at UK; at right is the radio show's host, Dick Gabriel at WVLK radio station studios in Lexington.
5-5-97 , Stewart Bowman/Courier Journal

Kentucky athletics director C.M. Newton speaks to the media during a news conference Sunday, Nov. 15, 1998 in Lexington, Ky. about an early morning car crash that occurred near Somerset, Ky. The crash involved two Kentucky football players. Arthur Steimetz, 19, a transfer from Michigan State, was killed in the accident. Starting center Jason Watts, also in the wreck, is listed in stable condition at University of Kentucky hospital. A third student, Christopher Brock, also died in the crash. , John Sommers II/Special to Courier Journal

A somber UK athletics director C.M. Newton ponders a reporter's question at a press conference Tuesday at Wildcat Lodge at UK. The A.D. announced a much stricter alcohol policy in place for athletes at the university. , Michael Clevenger/Courier Journal

Morgan Wootten, left, C. M. Newton, Bob McAdoo, Pat Summitt and Isiah Thomas posed at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., where they were inducted last night along with the late Danny Biasone. AP file photo

C.M. Newton considered retiring in 1996 but wanted to boost the UK football program. He hired Hal Mumme, who has led the team to bowl games in consecutive years.
12/22/99 , Stewart Bowman/Courier Journal

Kentucky athletics director C.M. Newton speaks about his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame at a press conference at Memorial Coliseum at the University of Kentucky on Wednesday, May 24, 2000 in Lexington. Newton retires in June as athletic director at Kentucky where he also was a member of the 1951 National Championship basketball team. He also served as coach at Transylvania University, the University of Alabama, Vanderbilt University and was president of USA Basketball from 1992 to 1996. , James Crisp/AP

"I have asked myself this many times. Would I have had the courage to do the right thing if I was in that same position at Alabama? I don't know," Kentucky coach John Calipari wrote in a recent blog post about Newton. "But I know this. He did. What is popular isn't always right and what is right isn't always popular. That is something we can all learn from C.M."

Newton served as the chairman of the NCAA's basketball rules committee from 1977 to 1980 and 1981 to 1989, overseeing the adoption of the shot clock and 3-point shot in college basketball.

After a brief stint as assistant commissioner of the SEC, Newton was hired as basketball coach at Vanderbilt in 1981. He won SEC Coach of the Year twice more (in 1988 and 1989) and helped reestablish a relationship between the program and former Commodore Perry Wallace, the SEC’s first African-American basketball player.

“When you think of vision, leadership and action (on the issues of race and sports in the South), he really does stand above all the rest,” Wallace told The Undefeated for a 2016story on Newton’s impact in the SEC.

Newton served as an assistant coach for the United States gold medal team at the 1984 Olympics and helped construct the “Dream Team” as president of USA Basketball from 1992 to 1996.

In 1989, Kentucky hired Newton as its athletic director in the midst of a basketball recruiting scandal that would eventually place the program on probation.

“It’s the most difficult career decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Newton said after he was hired. “When I told my kids I was staying at Vanderbilt, I meant it. But a combination of things changed my mind: Kentucky convinced me I was needed, and that I was wanted in a very important time.

“If the situation that exists at Kentucky wasn’t there, there is no way I’d be leaving. But Dr. (David) Roselle convinced me that he wanted me to help give Kentucky the kind of athletic program I’ve always believed in.”

As it became more apparent the basketball program was going to be charged with NCAA rules violations, Roselle, the UK president at the time, reached out to Newton to gauge his interest in the athletics director job.

Newton initially told Roselle he planned to stay at Vanderbilt but eventually agreed to meet in person.

"What I knew was that C.M. was an alum, that his reputation was outstanding as a coach and as an honest, fair man," Roselle, the UK president at the time, told the Courier Journal. "He was exactly what UK needed.

"... The meeting lasted about three hours during which I became all the more certain that C.M. was the person UK needed and he decided he was willing to take on UK's problem. During the past 34 years, I have led four different organizations and have hired hundreds of people. Hiring C.M. was as important and as successful as any other."

Newton made two major hires in the men’s basketball program, first picking Rick Pitino to lead the basketball program back to prominence and later hiring Smith to replace Pitino. Both coaches won national championships while Newton was athletic director.

“C.M. was one of the finest people I’ve ever met," Pitino said Monday night. "He was selfless and loved his alma mater. I learned a great deal from him. I was lucky to spend so much time with him in Lexington as well as Boston. He was a special husband, dad, coach and friend to so many. Our prayers are with his family.”

Newton also hired Bernadette Mattox, the first African-American coach for the UK women’s basketball program.

His football hires were not as successful. Bill Curry was fired after compiling a 26-52 record in seven seasons and Hal Mumme, who led UK to its first New Year’s Day bowl in 47 years, was fired after Newton retired in the midst of a recruiting scandal that landed the program on probation.

However, Newton oversaw the expansion of Commonwealth Stadium, the construction of Nutter Field House and helped restart the long-dormant football series with the University of Louisville. The playing field at Commonwealth Stadium was named “C.M. Newton Field” in 2000 then renamed “C.M. Newton Grounds” as part of the facility’s switch to Kroger Field in 2017.

"C.M.’s arrival at UK was the stabilizing force that helped end a very forgettable time in UK basketball history," said Oscar Combs, founder of The Cats' Pause and longtime UK media member. "His 'no-nonsense' reputation with others around the nation and NCAA was as important to rebuilding the UK national image after probation as was the hiring of Rick Pitino. The fact that C.M. was a former Wildcat who once played for Adolph Rupp gave the situation even more credibility among Kentucky’s fandom."

"C.M. was a very good coach," Hall said. "He became a very astute and effective athletic director. … He did a wonderful job when he was here at Kentucky at AD. I couldn't say enough good things about C.M."

Newton announced his plan to retire as UK athletic director in December 1999 then was elected to the Hall of Fame five months later as he was finishing his final weeks on the job.

“Basketball has afforded me things I could have never gotten any other way,” Newton said in May 2000. “So I’ve tried to give something back. I assume that’s what this (honor) is for, because it sure isn’t because I was a great player, a great coach or a great AD. It must be a compilation of what I’ve given back to the sport.”